Four classes, 13 types of car, 29 race teams, 35 entrants, 55 cars and 165 drivers - the entry for the 82nd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours is as diverse as it has probably ever been.

There are factories and privateers, open and closed cars, turbos and aspirated engines, and entrants from China and Russia. And there's even a car in the race that will attempt to achieve the first all-electric lap of the Circuit de la Sarthe.

Those 165 drivers include a 16-year-old rookie and a grandson of a winner at Le Mans more than half a century ago. There are, of course, multiple winners of the great race on the entry and even a multiple winner of the English Premier League.

Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 25th as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 60 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.
Gary, who also writes for RACER, Autoweek, Motor Sport, Autocourse and others, lives in Surbiton but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.

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